LOS ANGELES-(BUSINESS WIRE)- Phytecs, a California biotechnology company that researches and develops consumer healthcare products targeting the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), today announced that Dr. Ethan Russo. MD, has joined the company as Medical Director. A clinical neurologist and ethnobotanist, Dr. Russo previously served for over a decade as Senior Medical Advisor to GW Pharmaceuticals, where he supervised clinical trials of their lead product, Sativex and pediatric anti-seizure medication, Epidiolex.
“It is a tremendous opportunity to join Phytecs’ team in the Americas, Europe and Israel who are working at the forefront of our scientific understanding of the endocannabinoid system,” Russo said. ‘The ECS and related lipid signaling networks play a vital role in both health and disease. From appetite to emotional memo to pain to mood, Phytecs’ searchers have discovered that the body’s endocannabinoid system regulates crucial signaling under1ying key aspects of human physiology and behavior, perhaps extending to the biochemist of individual personalities,” said Russo.
Prior to GW Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Russo practiced clinical neurology for twenty yea . He is Past-President of the International Cannabinoid Research Society and former Chairman of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines. He has authored seven books and over thirty articles ranging from historical uses of plant medicines to modem pharmacological mechanisms, phytopharmaceutical treatment of migraine and chronic pain, and phytocannabinoid-serotonergic and -vanilloid receptor interactions.
Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, Director of Global Research at Phytecs, professor at the Institute for Drug Research at Hebrew University in Israel, and chair of the Phytecs Scientific Advisory Board, stated, “Ethan Russo has occupied the pinnacle of the endocannabinoid research community for over a decade. I look forward to our collaboration as Phytecs explores the profound pharmacological implications of our increasing understanding of the ECS.”